Fire! Ready. Aim.  The Real Reason for JCPS' "Perception Problem"

In the wake of JCPS releasing an "Equity" report saying that its employees, including its teachers, are overpaid, JCPS is now backing away from it and won't be presenting it at the May 10, 2016 meeting.  

According to WLKY:  

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Spokesperson Allison Martin said the recommendation came from a community committee, not JCPS, even though multiple district representatives and a cabinet member sit on that committee.
She said the superintendent hasn't endorsed the plan, and has excluded it from next week's board meeting.
“Because union negotiations open up in the summertime -- anyway, late spring, early summer, every year. And, so it will be part of the normal negotiation process,” Martin said.
Martin said JCPS believes its teachers are well-compensated, but said the district will have committees looking at administrators salaries.
The district could ask the board to approve a freeze since administrators don't have contracts, unlike all other employee groups.

So a study commissioned by JCPS, as well as a "community" team given their marching orders by JCPS, make recommendations at a meeting scheduled by JCPS, but Dr. Hargens comes out several days after the plan is presented to humongous community outcry to say she doesn't endorse it.

Just in case Allison Martin and Dr. Hargens need a refresher, they should check page 3 of their Salary Study to see who was a part of that community committee. I'll help them. Emphasis is mine.

• Tiffeny Armour, Director of Human Resources, JCPS
• Roger Cude, Senior VP of Human Resources, Humana
• Attorney Mark Fenzel, Middleton Reutlinger
• Dr. Rita Greer, former Director of Human Resources, JCPS
• Chuck Haddaway, Board Member, JCPS
• Cordelia Hardin, CFO, JCPS
• Donna Hargens, Superintendent, JCPS
• Dr. Blake Haselton, Superintendent in Residence, U of L
• Tom Hudson, CBO, JCPS
• Allison Martin, Chief Communications and Community Relations Officer JCPS
• Angie Moorin – Finance Work Group Member
• Tom Quick, VP of Human Resources, General Electric Appliances
• Attorney Jim Smith, Smith and Smith Attorneys

So we have four members of Dr. Hargens' staff, INCLUDING Allison Martin, as well as Dr. Hargens herself, but this didn't come from JCPS.

As a communications person, shouldn't Allison Martin have some sense of a) how the initial presentation would be received, b) how a complete lack of immediate response by Dr. Hargens would be received, c) how Tom Hudson's comments about how the community should be outraged would be received, and d) that saying Dr. Hargens didn't "endorse" a plan she and her staff (including Martin) oversaw and drafted would come across as ludicrous?

If Dr. Hargens didn't support it, why did she allow it to appear in front of the board? Is her method of management to throw up trial balloons to see how the community will react and then respond accordingly? Does she have no idea how the community, teacher, parents, and students feel?

It is time for the JCPS Board of Education to make a stand and call out Dr. Hargens for this nonsense. She said back in December that JCPS had a "perception problem". Instead of pointing her finger at the media or twitter like she did back then, maybe she should point that finger back at herself and realize that the actions she takes (or doesn't take), as well as the timeliness of her responses to community feedback have actual consequences and drive that public perception.

I hope teachers, parents, students, and the community are out in force May 10th to express their disapproval.

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